Confession — I’ve said that many times.

I probably didn’t use the words “before it’s ruined,” but my meaning was close enough.

I’ve also been guilty in the past of wanting quaint places to stay quaint — as if they exist purely for my own enjoyment, rather than as places where real people live their real lives. My thinking has evolved over the years, and probably could stand to evolve even more.

Another lament I’ve heard many times among the adventure travel set: “This place just doesn’t feel authentic anymore.” That usually refers to something like a McDonald’s appearing in the heart of a colonial town square. There are likely legitimate gripes about that McDonald’s — especially if its existence is threatening the livelihood of a family-run enterprise that’s been on the corner for generations.

But who gives me, a visitor, the right to say what’s authentic in someone else’s town?

And, by the way, that lovely colonial square isn’t authentic, either. It was forced on earlier inhabitants by, duh, the colonists.

From my experience, these types of remarks are common among us first-world travelers who like to think of ourselves as adventurers. We love the idea of escaping the comforts and commercialism of our worlds.

That’s why I fantasized about visiting Cuba. It seemed like one of the few remaining places where you would not encounter a McDonald’s. Also, since it’s been illegal for Americans to go, sneaking in and out becomes a point of pride, a sort of proof-of-life-as-an-adventurer.

(Turns out, I’m not quite the adventurer I like to think I am … my ex-husband and I were thisclose to jumping on a plane to Cuba from South America when we were spending several months in Ecuador … seemed like an ideal time to hide a trip to Cuba in the non-stamped pages of our passports … but then President Bush threatened to crack down on travel to Cuba and I chickened out.)

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to escape our own cultures.

In fact, I would argue it should be a mandatory experience for every citizen.

But it’s all-too-easy to fall into a mindset that other places need to meet our own expectations of what those other places are supposed to be. And then to feel let down if they’re not. This is not only arrogant, it robs us of experiencing what a place is really like — McDonald’s and all — because we’re too busy looking for what we have decided we’re supposed to see.

Over the years I’ve mellowed a bit in that regard. I can sometimes catch myself now when I start to compare a place to the fantasies in my head.

Natalie’s article is another great reminder.

PS: For a more in-depth discussion of this topic, I recommend my favorite travel book: Vagabonding, by Rolf Potts. To me it’s more life book than travel book — great insights whether or not long-term travel is in your future. To quote Tim Ferriss: “Vagabonding teaches you how to travel (and think), not just for one trip, but for the rest of your life.”

16 Feb 2016

Wanna see the real city? Hang with a local.

My friend Michelle and I were exchanging dollars for stacks of kwacha in a black market currency swap in the back of a van, after dark, in a parking lot behind a building that was closed for the night.

We’d just landed in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, after about 35 hours of travel from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. to Rome to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) to the Congo to Malawi. I could barely keep my head up, but Michelle was hyper alert (that Girl Scout mom training at the ready).

We’d met the driver of the van, Luzu (in the photo above), a few hours earlier at the airport. But he wasn’t a total stranger — he’d been a trusted and dedicated guide and friend for a doctor who spends a few months in Malawi every year. He’d been assigned to pick us up and make sure we could get some cash before heading out of the city to join said doctor for our two-week tour of humanitarian projects throughout the country.

Michelle and I look back on that late-night van scenario with a “what were we thinking?” head slap — it’s the kind of scene from a campy horror movie where the whole audience is screaming at the woman who is stupidly walking toward the mysterious noise in the cellar.

But we were in great hands. Luzu knew this transaction was actually safer and cheaper than going to an ATM at that hour. He knew where to go. He knew who would give us a fair deal.

Locals Know

“Hang with locals” is something that’s easier said than done, right? That’s great advice if you know someone in town (or know someone who knows someone in town). But what if you don’t?

Check out this brilliant new service that matches travelers with locals to show them around: Lokafy

The founder describes it this way:

“I realize that it is the people that made the difference between a place that I simply passed through and one that stayed imprinted in my memory. It was people that brought the place to life.”

It’s common in many countries for locals to proactively offer their services as guides as soon as you arrive in town. They know how to spot the tourists, and they’ve built an entire informal industry around it. I always loved it — I’m happy to pay someone to show me neighborhoods I never would have found (or been brave enough to venture into) on my own.

Lokafy sounds like a way to bring that kind of ad hoc tour guide match-making into places where you don’t typically have people offering up their local expertise as soon as you get off the train (like, say, New York City).

As for my time in Malawi, it would not have been the same without Luzu as friend, driver, guide, explainer of all things mysterious to this westerner (like mice-on-a-stick). Some of my favorite moments were sitting in the passenger seat, staring out the windshield, with Luzu on my right telling me stories about his country.

24 Mar 2014

An armed man points his weapon in through the door of the bus I am on and fires indiscriminately.

Passengers shriek, duck, then ready their own guns for a counter attack.

On the streets, children and adults bear arms, and snipers strategically position themselves on rooftops and balconies.

This is a familiar scene in Ecuador this time of year. Attackers firing with no mercy, children and adults alike running and screaming …

… with delight?

Yes, delight. For their ammunition of choice is water — and their artillery takes the form of water machine guns, water-filled balloons and even full buckets poured over the heads of passersby. Their victims are anyone and everyone — friend and stranger — who happen to cross their paths. Their reason: Carnival.

The entire country engages in a massive, non-stop water fight for a few weeks leading up to Lent. No one is spared. I was not prepared for this unusual, playful and at times painful ritual. Did I mention the water balloon launched from six stories high that hit me in the head (ouch) as I was walking to my job teaching English to businessmen (showing up wet … um, embarrassing).

It’s fun and strange — and sometimes a little disorienting — to encounter another culture’s traditions first-hand. But that’s partly the point. Yet another reason to travel!

15 Apr 2013

Click above to meet a writer/traveler after my own heart. I stumbled upon his site after googling the phrase “intentional travel.” I’m trying to find a term that describes the kind of travel I’ve been doing lately – the kind of travel that merges wanderlust with a desire to interact with and learn from people around the world.

What do you think of these options:

Intentional travel (this phrase seems to have a built-in audience of people who will get it)

Expansive travel (I like this one, but does it look and sound too much like “expensive”?)

22 Feb 2013

Want to spend time with locals? Take a ‘listening tour’

I met this woman on a recent trip to Nicaragua. She’s a coffee farmer and is active with an organization called La FEM — an all-women’s NGO in northern Nicaragua that promotes ideological, economic and political empowerment of rural women.

If you really want to meet local people when you travel and learn a little about their lives, I highly recommend a “listening tour” — a trip arranged and facilitated by someone who lives there or by an organization. It usually includes an element of education or volunteer activity along the way.

This trip was arranged by a U.S.-based fair trade coffee company called Just Coffee. They called it a Delegation, and it offered a chance to meet the women of the La FEM coffee co-ops, to learn about coffee and about what La FEM is doing to improve the lives of women.

This kind of trip gives a much deeper experience than just traveling around as a tourist. Not to knock tourist travel — after a week with the Just Coffee group, my travel companion and I spent a few days of luxury just chilling at the beach!

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Travel light.

Efficient, expansive travel requires less, not more.
One bag that serves multiple functions.
A sarong that's also a towel, blanket or sheet.
Clothing layers that pack small and carry light.
A daypack with one-reach access to essentials.
A pocket for my Chapstick.

My OCD

can make me feel encumbered and anxious. But the lighter I travel the more liberated I feel (as long as my Chapstick and water bottle are within reach).

Join me!

"Less" requires planning. For me, honing the art of traveling light is a journey unto itself. And I STILL haven't found the perfect travel bag.

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Disclaimer

The content on this site is based on the personal experiences of an OCD-positive traveler. It is not medical advice. If you think you suffer from anxiety, seek the counsel of a medical professional. Believe me, it helps.